Vacuum cleaners of the above kind as described in the preamble of claim 1 are commonly sold with a large number of accessory parts such as suction nozzles, extension pipes and the like. For this purpose there are provided accessory spaces or compartments which are usually disposed on the top of the vacuum cleaner, so that they can be opened as large surfaces--even when the vacuum cleaner is in operation--in order to allow easy access also to larger accessory parts. Such devices have the disadvantage that they are mostly not suited for smaller spare parts such as dust bags, filters and operating instructions. Further, the number of accessory parts and spare parts, which should be kept easily accessible, has increased to an extent that devices of the above described kind are hardly sufficient any more. Another disadvantage resides in that, as ever, reserves of expendable articles such as dust bags, fine filters and the like are kept at various places outside the vacuum cleaner, in most cases not even close to the surfaces to be cleaned.